Browsing

Indexing, classification, and other aspects of formal systems for access to documents represent documents and questions in topical terms. The discovery and elaboration of new knowledge generally implies new concepts and new connections, thus scholars cannot generate topical descriptions of their requirements. Several informal activities generally described by the term browsing serve scholars by reforming the representation issues in idiosyncratic and functional terms. A conceptual framework for browsing is constructed on issues of the representation of knowledge states and documents.